Establishing a forex trading strategy helps you to take a more objective approach to your trading. With a reliable forex trading strategy in place, no single trade should be able to make a disproportionate dent in your bottom line, and you should be able to see each trade as part of your ongoing trading activity. In the short term, you are trading on the basis of tested methods rather than individual hunches. In the long term, you are placing your individual trades within the wider context of your rules for money management.

Forex trading strategies can be based on technical analysis, chart analysis or fundamental, news-based events. The trader’s currency trading strategy is usually made up of trading signals that trigger buy or sell decisions. Forex trading strategies can be either manual or automated methods for generating trading signals. Manual systems involve a trader sitting in front of a computer screen, looking for trading signals and interpreting whether to buy or sell. Automated systems involve a trader developing an algorithm that finds trading signals and executes trades on its own.

A forex trading strategy is simply a collection of rules that determine how you enter and exit trades. Every professional trader uses more than one trading strategy for a very simple reason; typically trading strategies are either trend-following or trend-fading. Trend-following strategies work well in trending markets, but they do not perform well in sideways markets. You cannot trade one strategy all the time! When the markets are trending you use a trend-following strategy and when they are going sideways you use a trend-fading strategy.

When venturing into the forex market, it makes good sense to follow tried and tested strategies to maximize profits and minimize losses. This is a good way to mitigate risks and aim for successful trades. As an investor, you could either create your own trading strategies or try one of the commonly used ones that have proven their effectiveness over time. A successful strategy is one that defines the rules that you follow while making forex trading decisions.

Traders have a wide variety of strategies at their disposal to try to interpret price movements and take advantageous trading positions. Some traders may use a particular approach almost exclusively, while others may employ a variety or hybrid versions of the strategies described above. While none is guaranteed to work all of the time, traders may find it useful to familiarize themselves with a number of strategies to build an arsenal of available tools for adapting to changing market conditions.